Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Revelation, chapter 22. Revelation 22. Let's read the third verse and
then we'll have a word of prayer. Revelation 22, verse 3, and there shall be no more curse, but the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants
shall serve Him." Our Father, we thank You this
morning for the privilege that we have to call upon Your holy
name. Lord, it is so good to be able
to speak and to have a heart that truly desires to speak,
but to know that we can only come before You in Him who is
our Mediator and our Husband and our Great High Priest. We
pray, Father, would You bless the Word to our heart. We are
so prone to wander in our minds. keep us, keep our minds' eye
upon You. For Christ's sake we ask, Amen. In the glorious state of the
redeemed, that is in heaven itself, the Scripture says in that first
part of the third verse, and there shall be no more curse. Now, to understand the depth
of the curse, listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians
3.10, For as many as are of the works of the law
are under the curse." Now, He didn't say, for as many
as were born under the law, He was born under the law. But He
says, as many as are of the works of the law, as many as are looking
to the law for justification before God. The Pharisees had, according
to our Lord's revelation, this was their rule on the way you
are supposed to live. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. It is the effort on man's part,
this is their thinking, to obey God and to be justified before
God by your own works. It's worldliness. The world does
that. The world can do that. I can
abstain from something and say, well, because I have abstained
from this, or because I don't abstain from this, I am right
before God. I am justified before God. Justification. What is that again? It is the
declaration by God that one is righteous before Him and free
from all guilt based totally upon the redemption that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath made Him sin who knew
no sin. Again, that's the wonder of the
substitution. that the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sin and obeyed God, being made sin. You think that's almost incomprehensible
in our minds. That's right. How one could be
made sin and judged by Almighty God. under God's wrath, God's
penalty, made sin, and perfectly obedient. He was obedient even
to the death of the cross. That's what the Scripture says.
Now that's who died for us, His people. Justification, the declaration
by God that one is righteous and free from all guilt, for
Christ was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." Everything. No more curse. Everything and everybody apart
from being found in the Lord Jesus Christ is under the curse.
Turn back to Revelation 20. Revelation 20, verse 11. We'll
just read through verse 15. Everybody, everything, the earth,
the animals, when the serpent, when Satan was cursed above all
cattle, everything was cursed when Adam rebelled against God
except those everlastingly chosen in Christ. Revelation 20, 11, And I saw
a great white throne, and him that sat on it, and whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no
place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. The sea gave up the dead
which were in it. Death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire." Everything. Everybody saved God's
people. Those that He has everlastingly
loved are under the curse. Balaam could not curse God's
people. Balak wanted him to, but he couldn't
curse them. You know why? The Lord said in
Numbers 22.12, for they are blessed. You can't curse those that God
has not cursed. If God be for us, who can be against us? What is
man going to do unto those that God has blessed? Blessed in Christ. God's people have always been
blessed in Christ. This is the joy of a believer's
heart. He has always looked upon His
people in favor. Turn to Ephesians 1. Let's read. We're looking at one verse of
Scripture today in Revelation 22. There's no more curse. That thought right there. What
a thought. Ephesians 1. We've read this
so many times. Read it again. Be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us..." Realize what he just said. "...who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," colon. Here's the reason. Coming up.
This is going to be the explanation for what was just said. Blessed
us according, according to, in accordance with, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. How
long has God's people been looked upon being blessed in Christ
before the foundation of the world, chosen in Him, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." How long has God accepted? His
elect in Christ. There's never been a time. As many, the Scripture says in
Acts 13-48, as were ordained to eternal life, believed. Listen to Romans 9, 22-23. I'll
read this to you. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which
he had aforeprepared unto glory." How long has God Almighty aforeprepared
unto glory His people? How long have they been looked
upon by Him in mercy that they should be holy and without blame
before Him in love? How long? They've always been
looked upon. In this world, obviously there
are some under the curse. And those that are under the
curse They've always been under the curse. You and I don't know
who they are. You and I have no idea who they
are. There was a time when you were
not called out of darkness, you that believe. What right or what
authority would someone look at you and say, you can't possibly
be one of God's elect? How do you know? What we do is
we preach the Gospel. We tell men, come to Christ. Believe on Christ. Look to Him
and live. And we trust that Almighty God
who said, My Word will not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish
the purpose for which it has been sent. How do you know who
God's elect are? You don't. Now after they're
called out of darkness, you might have an idea. You might notice
some characteristics. But until God calls them out
of darkness, we don't know who they are, but God's always known
them. He's always loved them. He's always looked on them in
favor. But for all that had been chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ,
for all that He was made sin, All that he shall robe in the
righteousness of his Son." They've never been under God's curse. We're walking in a world today
that's cursed. This world's cursed. All that
know not Him, all that die not knowing Him, under the curse. But for those that the Lord Jesus
Christ has always stood as their surety, they're not cursed. They're blessed people. But after that great day, the
great white throne judgment, after Almighty God has put away
all rebellion and cast it into the lake of fire, this is what
it says in verse 3, there shall be no more curse. Not there. Not in heaven. New heaven and
new earth, 2 Peter 2, I mean 3, 13 says, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. But the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it. The usurper and all that know
not Christ have been cast out. And here the Scripture says,
the throne of God and of the Lamb. What does that say? It
is saying that they are one. One in essence. One in glory. One in purpose. The Lord Jesus
Christ says, to see me, you have seen the Father. I and my Father
are one. There are three that bear witness
in heaven. The Father, the Word, the Spirit. These three are one. One God. and his servants shall serve
him." The word actually, servants,
there is bond slaves. Those that have been given a
willing heart. I know when men hear the gospel of God's free grace,
And they hear how Almighty God, who has the right to show mercy
to one and to leave another to Himself, they'll say, that's
not fair. They said, don't you people believe
in whosoever will? Absolutely, we believe in whosoever
will. But the problem is, is that man
by nature, according to the Scriptures, will not come. I believe they say that everybody
ought to have a chance. That is a sure fire. If you're telling me, leave everyone
to have a chance to choose whether or not They would desire to come
to Christ, give everybody a chance. Here's what the Scripture says.
There's no chance that anybody will come. There's none that
seek after God. Nobody would come. What men despise,
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, They despise
the only hope of mankind. Almighty God has been merciful and compassionate
to do that which He is pleased to do in giving some a new heart,
a new mind, a new creation. He's birthed them from above.
He's given them a new will. And they're willing in the day
of His power. Whosoever will, let him come. Who's going to
come? Only those that God's given a new will. Only those that Almighty God's
given a new heart, new spirit. Only where you find a new man
that Paul refers to himself, I see in me a new mind, with
my mind. These that Almighty God have
made willing in the day of His power, willing to come. We're
not robots. We're not doing something against
our will. Believers are doing just exactly what they want to
do. They want to come. They want to love. They want
to serve. Leave a man to himself and he
will not come. People say that's not fair. My
friend, when Adam rebelled against God, he did what he did willingly. And all mankind, which was in
Adam, all men, some would say, well, I wouldn't do what Adam
Yes, you would. Yes, you would. You're doing
it now. You're rebelling against God right now. Don't disagree
with God's Word. You take sides with God against
yourself. I'm telling you, the Scripture
sets forth that only those made willing in the day of His power
come. My sheep hear my voice. They follow me. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me." That's a promise. That's good news. If you've come
in your heart, you come right now. You're coming right now. I'm not talking about a day that
you made a profession of faith. I'm talking about to whom coming. You come today because yesterday's
coming is gone. These servants found with Him,
it says, shall serve Him. Those that have been delivered
from the bondage of sin and bound to Christ, they serve Him. And
that position of a servant right here, that's an appointed position. You didn't make yourself that. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
Romans 1.1, called by the grace of God, called
by the Spirit of God, called by the power of God to be an
apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God. The word separated means
appointed. You believe Him this morning.
God appointed you to that position. How thankful that He did not
leave me to myself. A servant of Jesus Christ is
one that worships. Worships Him. One that has been effectually
called out of spiritual darkness Listen to the words of our Master
John 4.23, "...but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers..."
Now what do you mean the true worshipers? "...shall worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship Him." The true worshipers, those who not only outwardly
resemble but absolutely are true in nature,
and only God knows that. I'm standing here this morning, and you might look at me and
you say, well, he's a pastor. I know that he's absolutely worshiping
God. Everything that he's saying,
I pray I do. I pray God give me a heart to
believe what I'm preaching right here. And I pray give you a heart
to believe it. Because I can give an outward
appearance of worship. I can go over a set of notes. enough to where I can pretty
well follow them and set forth a pretty consistent delivery
of a consistent message that many of you know is consistent. But how do you know what's in
my heart? How do you know what's inside?
How do you know whether or not this message that sets forth
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, how do you know whether He's
real to me? True worshipers. I don't know what's in your heart,
but I can tell you this, true worshipers, those that are true
in nature, and resemblance, outward resemblance. The hour cometh when true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and truth." They know the truth. They've been taught the truth
and they have a heart and they long to worship the hunger. It's said by the Lord Jesus,
John 12, 26, "...if any man serve Me." Serve Me. And this is what it means. Worship
from the heart. You know, that's a word. If you don't understand the word
serve there, you know, serve the Lord. Okay? What do I do? Serve the Lord. We need to be
serving the Lord. Boy, that sounds spiritual, doesn't
it, Brother Scott? We need to serve the Lord. Okay. Do I read my Bible more? Do I
visit on Tuesday nights? Do I write a tract? What do you
mean to do? What do you mean to serve the
Lord? Worship from the heart. How can I do that? With you it's
impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. If God Almighty gives you a new heart, It responds. It is God that worketh in you
to will and to do of His good pleasure. Does it ever amaze
you, you that believe? Does it ever amaze you that you
got up today with a desire to worship Him again? Do you realize what an amazing
thought that is? that He would give me a heart
that would want to desire His presence. Lord, I would truly desire to
talk to You this morning. And Lord, I'm so thankful that
You'd give me a heart that longs to be tender toward You. To the world, this sounds foolish.
You mean that's it? That's everything. That I would
long to be where He is, long to be with Him, long to hear
Him. Lord, would You speak this morning? If You don't speak,
what am I going to hear? What am I going to hear? To an
unbeliever, this is the most foreign thing they've ever heard.
That's just religious stuff. Man, I don't know why you're
making such a big deal of it. But to a believer, if I might
have just a moment, a fleeting moment, that He speaks to me
and gives me a heart that truly believes that He is, that He's
real. And that He gives me a heart
that longs to serve Him, to worship. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am there shall also
my servant be, my worshipper be. Lord, I would desire that. It's the most comforting thing
in the world. to know that you've allowed me the privilege to be
where you are. Lord, you said two or three are
gathered together in your name. You're in the midst of them.
Thank you for letting me be here. Thank you that you've not left
me to want to be somewhere else today doing something that doesn't
more matter than man and the moon. Everything else is under
the curse. In that place, in that day, no
more sin to war against me. No more time to terminate in
His presence. Revelation 7, verse 15 says,
Therefore they before the throne of God and serve Him day and
night in His temple. Unceasingly, we serve Him. Now, I've told you before. I'm
going to tell you again. Let me tell you how wicked our
old heart is. I'm talking to believers now.
Let me tell you how wicked our heart is. We hear that. We read that. They
serve Him. They worship Him day and night
in His temple. And our old wicked heart says,
how can it be that I can go through eternity doing this one thing? Worshiping God. Doesn't that
grieve you that we think like that? And don't tell me you don't
think like that. Don't tell me you don't. Don't
tell me that you're sitting here and you're thinking to yourself,
I've never thought that. Surely there's something that
we're to be doing. Surely there's the Scripture
sets forth and says they serve Him night and day. That's the way it's going to
be. But listen to this. Maybe this
will be a help to you. It was to me. Right now. You got up this morning. You got up yesterday morning.
If the Lord tarries, you'll get up in the morning. But right
now, throughout this day, the believer worships Him from a
new heart. Now, you're going through this
day and you're struggling. You're warring. There's a battle
that's going on. The old man and the new man,
the two natures, they're battling each other. And that new man,
you think on Christ, you hunger after Christ, you love Him, you
long for Him. You go throughout this day and truly what you're doing,
by the grace of God, by that new heart, by that new creation
created in righteousness, That new man wherein dwells the righteousness
of God. You truly are. You are serving
Him from a new heart. You are longing after Him, hungering
after Him, desiring after Him. And the only reason that you
ever stop doing it is because of the body of sin that wars
against your mind. You're distracted. You got stuff. I can sit here during the day
and there's, you know, you think, well, there's nothing, you know,
I'm just here by myself, you know. Surely there's nothing
to distract me. Oh, my. All day long. Distracting. Distracting's without and distracting's
within. And I struggle. I go through
my day struggling just like you do. Struggling, warring, lusting
against the Spirit and the flesh. It's a battle. There's a heart
that wants to worship Him. And that's all it wants to do.
That's all it wants to do. You that believe, let me ask
you this. Is there anything from that new man that God's given
you, is there anything else that you want to do except hunger
after Him? Think on Him? Worship after Him? What else do you want to do?
You don't want to do anything. You want to please Him. I want
to be found in Him. I want to be where He is. But
that old man that wars against this flesh, it battles. And you're worshiping Him right
now. Throughout the day and even in
the night when you're awake and you think on Him, I know you
do. There won't be any night there. There will be no curse there. And we will in that day, day
and night. That's what it says forever.
Day and night. And how can you say day and night?
There is no night. It never ceases. You'll do one thing. You'll serve
Him. You'll worship Him. My little fickle mind can't even
enter into this. But to know that we will never
cease to serve Him and worship Him as kings and priests unto
God in Christ. Never cease to worship Him as
trophies of His grace. Never cease to rest in Him who
is our rest, who is the author and finisher of our faith, our
salvation. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
His servants shall serve Him. May the Lord add His blessing
on the proclamation, on the hearing and the preaching of His Word
for Christ's sake. Let's take about a 10 minute
break.